Papadum

Papadum (aka papadam, papad, appalam etc) is an India snack, tortilla-size, paper-thin, crisp wafers. Papadum can be served as a snack. It goes well as a snack with chilled beer. It is also served as part of a meal like rice, chapatti, Naan etc. Papadums can be eaten with toppings such as chopped onions, chutney or other dips and condiments.

You can substitute Papadum with potato chips (Pringles type).

Papadum 

Papadums can be bought from Indian grocers. Usually Papadums come in 50 pieces packet.

It should be fried in oil before serving. It can also be dry roasted over an open flame. It can also be roasted in a microwave oven for 20 seconds on high setting. Oil fried  papadum taste better.

Frying papadums

Serves: 5

Preparation time: 0

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

10 papadums

1 cup vegetable oil

Method

Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet. We are going to deep fry the papadum Reduce the heat to medium low.

There should be adequate oil to cover the entire area of the  papadum Depending on the size of your skillet, you may need more oil. I used a wok, and it requires very little oil.

oil for frying

Add one  papadum 

Adding Papadum

It will puff up immediately. 

Papadum is frying 

Take it out immediately. It will take only one to one-and-a-half seconds. You should take it out while it is yellow in color. If you leave it longer it will turn into light brown and then into dark brown and ten almost black.

Papadum is ready

Dark brown and black colored Papadums are over cooked (burnt) and will not taste good.

When you take the Papadum out of the skillet, put it on a kitchen paper towel so that the excess oil will be absorbed by the paper towel. 

As soon as you finish frying all the Papadums, put them in a plastic back with a fresh kitchen paper towel and seal it air-tight. The plastic bag will keep the Papadums crispy for one to two days.

Fried papadum  is  saved in a plastic bag

You can also microwave the Papadums. It will take about 20 seconds on high heat setting. Timing for your microwave may differ. Check after 10 second for estimating the timing for your microwave.

Micro wave fried papadum

I brushed vegetable oil on both sides of the papadum and microwaved it. Papadum with oil puffed better and tasted better than papadum without oil. Deep fried papadum tasted better than papadum microwaved with oil.

Papadum fried in microwave with brushed oil

Making Papadum

If you like you can make your own papadum. But it is not worth the effort. Drying is cumbersome. Papadums are cheap and can be purchased everywhere.

Preparation time: 35 minutes.

Ingredients

1 kg split black gram flour

35 gram Baking soda

Salt - according to your taste.

Optional

2 tbsp black sesame seeds

or 1 tsp black pepper coarsely ground

or 2 tbsp garlic granules

To make papadum:

Mix all the ingredients. Add enough water to make a hard dough. Knead it well. Take a small ball of dough about 10 grams. Roll it with a roller pin like tortilla but as thin as possible. It will be as big as 7", the size of a tortilla.1 kg of black gram flour will make about 100 papadums of this size.

You can also make them as small as possible - 1" diameter.

Optional steps

After you have rolled, sprinkle 4 or 5 sesame seeds on top and roll again to embed the seeds in the papadum.

If you are using pepper similarly sprinkle a pinch of pepper powder in 4 or 5 spots and roll again.

If you are using garlic granules, sprinkle them like sesame seeds mentioned above.

Do not cover the entire surface of the papadum with the optional ingredients. Use the optional ingredients sparingly.

The papadum is then dried in the sun for two to three days, until the papadums are fully dry.

You can also dry them in the oven at the lowest possible setting, for around 4-6 hours.

You can store the dried papadums in an air tight container or a sealed plastic bag for up to 6 months.

  

fried papadum